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best price to performace with server parts
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bloodrain Send message Joined: 8 Dec 08 Posts: 231 Credit: 28,112,547 RAC: 1 |
i will be retying some old pc's that did seti and a few other projects. some time this year. i notice on ebay tons of super cheap server parts compare to normal pc parts. that i would like to use for boinc. also to learn the tech to for later projects i will be using 1 for. what would be price and performance wise. good for parts? |
Tom M Send message Joined: 28 Nov 02 Posts: 5124 Credit: 276,046,078 RAC: 462 |
i will be retying some old pc's that did seti and a few other projects. some time this year. Some of the best, used server prices are probably for e5-2670 v1 cpus. These use the LGA 2011 motherboard. Usually, you need to search for R type sockets and DDR3 ram. There are some single socket with 7 pcie slot motherboards for $300 or less on eBay. Last time I priced a 2670 it was $64. If you want something like an e5-2690v2 (10 c/ 20 t, 3Ghz, Turbo 3.3Ghz) its more expensive. About $242/cpu. I have also seen a dual cpu MB for the e5-26xx with 7 pcie slots running abit over $300. One Setizen has a dual cpu server MB with 11 pcie slots. The MB is bit pricey at $500-$800 depending on where you get it. It also will not fit in any standard form factor case so you are pretty much committing yourself an open air, Miners type rig. Yes, he is driving a lot of gpus with it. HTH, Tom ps. the LGA 2011 socket comes in at least 3 variations. Don't get an R1 version or the V3/V4 aka: R2 unless that is really what you wanted. You want the R socket aka: V1/V2. A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association). |
Tom M Send message Joined: 28 Nov 02 Posts: 5124 Credit: 276,046,078 RAC: 462 |
Some of the used MB and Workstation motherboards have proprietary power connectors. Example HP Z-400 and more than one Dell Server MB has non-standard PSU plugs. If you buy a Supermicro, Asrock etc MB they appear to have standard PSU connectors. Tom A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association). |
bloodrain Send message Joined: 8 Dec 08 Posts: 231 Credit: 28,112,547 RAC: 1 |
ok. yeah am surprise their no real build list for this project. |
Brent Norman Send message Joined: 1 Dec 99 Posts: 2786 Credit: 685,657,289 RAC: 835 |
The no built list could be due in part that the Seti team has developed apps that will run on almost any hardware. Like my AMD4200+, it runs CPU tasks fine, but the energy used is just not worth it for taking 8 hours a task to complete, when the cheap Pi's can do it much cheaper. Sometimes going old and cheap is not the answer either since you will pay for it on your power bill. Personally I would say you will get the biggest bang for you buck by getting an older computer with PCIe x16, and put a decent GTX 10xx, or 20xx series card in it. Then only run GPU tasks which will give you much more performance per Watt. |
bloodrain Send message Joined: 8 Dec 08 Posts: 231 Credit: 28,112,547 RAC: 1 |
i was looking into mining mobo. but their still issues with that. due to they ruse the bios for them and the boards to. why i mention the server stuff is the sheer amount of deep discounted parts. compare to other used pc parts. |
Tom M Send message Joined: 28 Nov 02 Posts: 5124 Credit: 276,046,078 RAC: 462 |
i was looking into mining mobo. but their still issues with that. due to they ruse the bios for them and the boards to. In another thread, Mining boards have been discussed extensively. They have QA issues in that the hardware is either reliable or it isn't (dies fast, doesn't boot when you get it etc). I believe our most successful Mining board user is TBAR (yes, he is the "all-in-one" guy). He probably is getting the "most bang for the buck" out of his cpu/mb combo. I like more cpu cores than a typical Mining board supports. Just ordered a used $129USD 7 slot, dual 2cpu socket (lga 2011 v1/v2) MB from eBay. Tom A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association). |
bloodrain Send message Joined: 8 Dec 08 Posts: 231 Credit: 28,112,547 RAC: 1 |
any brand should i look for? |
Ian&Steve C. Send message Joined: 28 Sep 99 Posts: 4267 Credit: 1,282,604,591 RAC: 6,640 |
I'd avoid mining specific motherboards. They have QC problems. Tbar already had to RMA one or two of them. and a couple other people that tired them have had issues as well. even guys who were using them for only mining (SETI is a harder workload) had issues with them. they are cheap, and cheaply made. you get what you pay for in my opinion. Supermicro X9 series motherboards are great. the single and dual socket versions of their ATX boards can be had for reasonable prices on eBay. E5-2600v2 series Xeon CPUs are relatively efficient, and the performance is great for the price. DDR3 Registered ECC RAM is also quite cheap. it's my current go-to recipe at the moment and it's been working out great. Seti@Home classic workunits: 29,492 CPU time: 134,419 hours |
bloodrain Send message Joined: 8 Dec 08 Posts: 231 Credit: 28,112,547 RAC: 1 |
ok i will look into later tonight. you can click and see what my old set up is. the quad core and the 6 core are separate from me. |
marmot Send message Joined: 15 May 99 Posts: 144 Credit: 1,220,664 RAC: 0 |
I bought 3 servers with e5-2660 and 32GB RAM and filled out their 4 drive arrays for total of about $1300 in October 2017. The Gridcoins paid for all of them and the property taxes on the house (this winter, made about $40... *sigh*) Looking at stepping up to v3 server while keeping the price/core ($14) similar while performance/core and performance/watt hold steady or improve. The DDR4 RAM is the nasty cost bottleneck. Next winter maybe the economics will be better. |
TBar Send message Joined: 22 May 99 Posts: 5204 Credit: 840,779,836 RAC: 2,768 |
ok i will look into later tonight. you can click and see what my old set up is. the quad core and the 6 core are separate from me.Actually, I haven't had any trouble with the ASUS Mining Expert. Other than a few Slots only running at PCIe Gen2 instead of PCIe Gen3. The Only Mining board I've had major problems with were the Gigabyte Mining boards. So, based on My experience, I'd say stay away from the Gigabyte Mining boards. If you do get a ASUS board, I highly suggest you read the Manual and follow it closely. |
bloodrain Send message Joined: 8 Dec 08 Posts: 231 Credit: 28,112,547 RAC: 1 |
what normal cpu do put in this and ram spec |
TBar Send message Joined: 22 May 99 Posts: 5204 Credit: 840,779,836 RAC: 2,768 |
This is the site page, https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/B250-MINING-EXPERT/specifications/ This is were I got mine; ASUS B250 MINING EXPERT LGA 1151 Intel B250 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX Intel Cryptocurrency Mining Motherboard It's even cheaper now. I wonder if I should get a Backup, NewEgg gave me a refund on the Gigabyte board. I may need a backup.... |
Tom M Send message Joined: 28 Nov 02 Posts: 5124 Credit: 276,046,078 RAC: 462 |
ok i will look into later tonight. you can click and see what my old set up is. the quad core and the 6 core are separate from me.Actually, I haven't had any trouble with the ASUS Mining Expert. Other than a few Slots only running at PCIe Gen2 instead of PCIe Gen3. The Only Mining board I've had major problems with were the Gigabyte Mining boards. So, based on My experience, I'd say stay away from the Gigabyte Mining boards. If you do get a ASUS board, I highly suggest you read the Manual and follow it closely. Thank you for the distinction. I remember the reports of having to RMA some of your MB's but didn't remember brands. Tom A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association). |
Tom M Send message Joined: 28 Nov 02 Posts: 5124 Credit: 276,046,078 RAC: 462 |
I bought 3 servers with e5-2660 and 32GB RAM and filled out their 4 drive arrays for total of about $1300 in October 2017. On the other hand, if you just want a few more cores and faster cpu processing, those e5-2690v2's are not as expensive as a V3 box maybe. You can go up to 10c/20t with Turbo to 3.3GHz (assuming the MB's bios cooperates). Or if you want even more cores but not as much speed there is the e5-2697v2 (12c/24t) at 2.7Ghz? Not sure what they would turbo it. The 2697's are significantly more expensive though. Tom A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association). |
Ian&Steve C. Send message Joined: 28 Sep 99 Posts: 4267 Credit: 1,282,604,591 RAC: 6,640 |
E5-2697v2 turbos to 3.0 GHz all core. Seti@Home classic workunits: 29,492 CPU time: 134,419 hours |
Tom M Send message Joined: 28 Nov 02 Posts: 5124 Credit: 276,046,078 RAC: 462 |
This is the site page, https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/B250-MINING-EXPERT/specifications/ @Tbar, In the context of Seti processing, I want the most threads for the above MB, I can find for the least amount of money. I think I am talking at least 8 threads. What are the best choice(s) [presumably, used}? Tom A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association). |
Ian&Steve C. Send message Joined: 28 Sep 99 Posts: 4267 Credit: 1,282,604,591 RAC: 6,640 |
This is the site page, https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/B250-MINING-EXPERT/specifications/ the most CPU threads you'll get that is compatible with that motherboard (B250 chipset) is 8. B250 chipset only supports 6th and 7th generation Intel Core CPUs. you can use core i5's also, but since they lack hyperthreading, only having 4 cores and 4 threads, you'll have to reduce CPU usage by not using the -nobs option. but an i5 would be cheaper still. i7-6700 i7-6700T i7-6700K i7-7700 i7-7700T i7-7700K are your only options for 8 threads. the i7-6700 is likely the cheapest that will give you 8 threads. Seti@Home classic workunits: 29,492 CPU time: 134,419 hours |
Tom M Send message Joined: 28 Nov 02 Posts: 5124 Credit: 276,046,078 RAC: 462 |
are your only options for 8 threads. the i7-6700 is likely the cheapest that will give you 8 threads. Thank you. It was beginning to feel as straight forward as a bowl of spaghetti. Tom A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association). |
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